The first edition of this highly significant map of the Arabian Peninsula. Produced by the US Geological Survey for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arabian-American Oil Company (Aramco), it was the first accurate geologic and geographic map to show the entire peninsula and was central to the resource exploration and development of the following decades.
Dr. Glen Francis Brown (1911-2001) first travelled to Saudi Arabia in 1945 after being selected to locate water supplies in its deserts. He so impressed King Abdulaziz that he was asked to return in 1950, as head of a project backed by a partnership of the Saudi government, the US Geological Survey and Aramco. As vast amounts of oil had been discovered by that point the task was multifaceted: “to conduct reconnaissance geologic mapping, mineral evaluation, and water-resource studies in the western and central parts of the Kingdom.” (Reinemund, Memorial to Glen F. Brown, p.37).
Over the course of several years Brown’s team surveyed the whole of the country and produced a series of regional geologic and geographic maps at a scale of 1:500,000, which were used for further exploration and the planning of new infrastructure. It was then decided the survey should be extended to the rest of the peninsula, and that a general map was required to contextualise the regional examples.
The present map is the fruit of Brown’s efforts, combining his team’s surveys with the best available data and other cartographic sources to achieve the greatest accuracy. He also sought to add up-to-date information on the petroleum industry, with some oil fields, pipelines and shipping terminals shown for the first time on a printed general map. First published in 1958, in English and Arabic versions, it was followed by a second edition in 1963, and formed the basis of all subsequent geologic maps of the peninsula.
Due to its large size many copies appear to have been folded for field use or employed as wall maps. This example is folded but is otherwise in excellent condition.
Parry, James V., ‘Mapping Arabia’ in Saudi Aramco World, 2004/1, 20ff.; Reinemund, John A., ‘Memorial to Glen F. Brown’ in The Geological Society of America, v.32, April 2002, p.37-39.
